A Layout For Karen

Good Evening Yall! I finished up this layout today and wanted to share. This one is doing double duty for me. First, I am using it for this week's sketch challenge on Unscripted Sketches. I used their sketch as my jumping off point, but it really kinda took on a life of it's own as I scrapped. If you would like to jump in on this fun sketch challenge, visit the US blog:

http://unscriptedsketches.com/

Second, I am using it for Cristal's Cinco De Mayo Challenge on Treasured Scrapbooking. She asked us to do a layout and use 'fives' in it. I have numbers 1-5, 5 rub-ons, a 5 letter title, 5 brads, 5 different sheets of paper, and my ribbon loops up 5 times. Also, this layout is a tribute to on of my bff's, KarenB. She is such a sweetheart and I am so glad we finally got to meet at the Just Scrappin' Scrappy Retreat this past April. I also included some stitching, chipboard, Stickles glitter glue, and used my Fiskars Apron Lace punch. I used the Cricut Storybook cartridge for my title. Here it is:

I tried to turn up the opening of the pleats for some extra dimension. I hope you can tell.

Thanks for droppin' by! I hope you all have a fabulous week! Take care! Hugs!

Exciting News And A Blog Award

Hello to my fellow scrappers out there! How are you on this beautiful Sunday? Good I hope!!! It has FINALLY stopped raining here. It's still a little overcasty, but no rain!!! I am so glad to see some sunshine! I hope we get even more tomorrow. Anywho, I wanted to share some news with yall....yesterday I was asked to join the design team at Unscripted Sketches!!! I am so excited! Their blog is totally awesome and I just love it. I can't wait to get started. So do go on over to US and check it out! It is fabulous! Join in on the challenge too! ;)

http://unscriptedsketches.com/

Also, I received this blog award from my friend Dawn. Check out her awesome blog:
http://creationsbydawn.blogspot.com/
It just made my day! Thank YOU Dawn!!!! The Award was designed to award bloggers for showing great attitude and gratitude.

Now, I would like to pass this along to some fellow bloggers:
1. Carol- http://www.southernbellesmom.blogspot.com/ (This is my Mom. She has a new blog and is one fabulous scrapper!!!)
2. KarenB- http://craftscrapper.blogspot.com/ (My friend Karen is one of the best little cardmakers I know!! She is as sweet as pie too!)
3. KarenD- http://kray-becomingabigtimescrapper.blogspot.com/ (This is also one of my bff's, Kray. She is a wonderful scrapper and a great friend!!!)
4. Kerri- http://kerrikr8tions.blogspot.com/ (Kerri is a fabulous scrapper too! She just made her first DT gig and I am so proud of her!!!)
5. Michele- http://alighttouch.blogspot.com/ (Last but not least, my good friend Michele! One talented lady I tell ya!)

I did scrap some yesterday too! I need to journal and snap a pic and then I'll get it posted for yall! Hope each of you are having a wonderful, relaxing day! Thanks for droppin' in!!!

I just made my first blinky.....

Hey yall! I just made my first blinky with Photoshop. How fun! I still want to tinker with this one some more, but for now, what do ya think? I'm giggling here! This is fun!

Thanks for lookin'!

For my blog followers.....

Happy Wednesday yall! I have had so many people ask me about the recipe for my banana pudding that I thought I would share. It is the simplest of recipes and is soooo yummy!!!

Easy Banana Pudding
1-3.4 oz. pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 1/4 c. cold water
1-can sweetened condensed milk
2 c. whipped topping
24 to 32 vanilla wafers
3 to 4 banana's; sliced

In a large bowl, combine pudding mix, water, and condensed milk; beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Chill for 5 minutes. Fold in the whipped topping. Layer wafers, pudding, and banana's. Chill until serving.

When I make this, I usually buy 2 boxes of vanilla wafers just to make sure I will have enough. I also buy the large container of whipped topping (Cool Whip) because I like to add a layer of it at the top. It helps to fill up the trifle bowl that I put mine in. You can get a trifle bowl at Wal Mart rather inexpensively.

Give it a try! I promise....it is pure heaven! Yummy!!!!

ALSO, I have had several people ask me about how I made the ribbon flower on my card for The Cuttlebug Spot this week. I got this idea from a post that Eva on Treasured Scrapbooking posted for us. Here is the tutorial on how to make your own ribbon flower....note, this is harder than the pudding! LOL

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/ribbonblossom/

Thanks for stopping by today! I have been scrapping, but it is all design team work that I cannot share just yet. But I hope to scrap more today and have something to share soon. Yall have a fabulous day!!!

Feelin' Blue

Hey yall! How are you today? I'm feelin' a little blue....that is the color blue. LOL. This week's challenge at The Cuttlebug Spot is to use the color blue with either brown or orange. I chose to use the color brown with my blue. I also used a new tutorial that Eva at Treasured Scrapbooking shared with us on how to make this funky ribbon flower. It was fun, but to be honest, a little tough. I'm not sure if I will do it again. It takes a whole bunch of ribbon. Of course, this card would have to be given in person. It has a lot of dimension. I used the following folders: Swiss Dots, D'Vine Swirl, and Textile Texture. I also included some stitching and a Jenni Bowlin calendar card. Here it is:

So come on over this week and join us for this fun challenge!!!!

http://thecuttlebugspot.blogspot.com/

I hope yall have a great week and thanks for stopping in!!!!

Hugs!

Gone Banana's

Happy Sunday Yall! I wanted to share something with you today. My husband has been working so hard and so much here lately that I wanted to surprise him. So I made his favorite treat...banana pudding. Yummy!!!!

Yall enjoy your long weekend!

Hey everyone!

I just wanted to say hi since I have not blogged in a few days. I have been busy scrappin', but it is for design team stuff, so can't reveal yet....but soon!! I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! Yay!!!!

Take care! Hugs!

Grease Monkey

Hey yall! I just finished up a one hour 'Just Add Scraps' at Treasured Scrapbooking. They give us a sketch and 2 things we must use in the layout. My group had to use hand/faux stitching and brads. I used K&Co papers. I used the Swiss Cheese border punch by EK Success for my border. I also did alot of distressing. I used a scrapbook marker and made my own faux stitching. Then I added brads in the corners of the photos. The lettering are Thickers. Here is my layout:

Thanks for lookin'! I hope all of you have a great Wednesday!!! Take care!

It's Monday! You know what that means....another fun challenge at The Cuttlebug Spot!!!

Well, another week has started. I hope you are having a wonderful Monday! I love Monday's because it means there is a new challenge at one of my fave blogs, The Cuttlebug Spot. Nilda asked us this week to emboss vellum, metal, etc. I chose to emboss some silver metallic paper using the Sizzix Argyle folder. I also embossed the transparency that says 'Buddy' with the Cuttlebug Script folder. Also, I used my butterfly die/embossing combo. I incorporated some machine stitching, some hand stitching, ribbons, bling, and buttons. Here is my card:

My girl Kerri, or K as I call her sent me these Bazzill In Stitches templates. Aren't they the cutest! Thanks K! I love 'em!

So if ya can, do come over and join us this week for this fun challenge.

http://thecuttlebugspot.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there! Yall have a great week and thanks for droppin' by! Take care!

A Sketchin' Sunday

Hey yall! I hope all of you are enjoying a peaceful Sunday. No scrappiness from me today. My right wrist is really bothering me and I'm trying to let it rest. So I decided to open up Photoshop for some new sketches. I thought I would share them here and on my sketchin' blog since I don't have any new layouts to share.

Enjoy your evening!

"A True Friend" AND Some Exciting News!!!!

Hey everyone! TGIF!!!! Yay! I hope all of you are ready for a great weekend! I don't have too much planned, just the usual.

Anyways, I just finished up this layout for a challenge on Treasured Scrapbooking where you were to lift one of the DT's layouts. This layout is of one of my bff's, Kray. She is so good to me and I love her to pieces! I did not bring out my Cricut on this one though....gasp...is that possible?! LOL. I used some paper doilies and cut them in half to make my own lacy looking border. I also added some stitching, stamping, ribbons, a pin, distressing, and some paper embellishment. I cut the lady out of a piece of patterned paper. I just love her!!! Here she is:

My journaling (which is around the perimeter) reads:

"This is one of my best scrappy pals, Kray a.k.a. Karen Day from California! Karen will always have a special place in my heart! She is one of the kindest, most giving people I know!! We talk on Just Scrappin' on a daily basis and her messages always brighten my day! Kray....always know that I am here and that I love ya gf!!!"

AND....I just got an email and I made the Design Team at The Chirper Challenge blog!!! I am so very excited and soooo thankful! Here's a link for you...check it out! It is such an awesome blog!

http://chirperchallenge.blogspot.com/

As always, thanks for stoppin' in! Yall have a great weekend and take care!

Can You Take Me Higher?

Hey yall! I just finished up this LO for a one hour sketch challenge on Just Scrappin. I am also combining this with a challenge on Treasured Scrapbooking where you were to 'twist' ribbon somewhere on your layout. I used all K&Co papers and embellishment on this one. I used Storybook for the scalloped circular shape in the background and for a portion of the title. The rest of the title is some leftover Making Memories Tiny Alpha's. I had to be creative with those. I am running out, so alot of these are a different letter turned upside down! LOL. I also used the Swiss Cheese border punch in my corners. I also used some twine on my tag. Here it is:

I hope you can see the ribbon that I twisted.

Thanks for dropping in! Yall take care and have a beautiful Friday! Hugs!

Not A Day Goes By...

Hey yall! I just finished up this layout for 2 challenges. First, the weekly sketch challenge on Unscripted Sketches. Second, for Lisa's "Pretty It Up" challenge on Treasured Scrapbooking. Lisa asked us to use doilies, paper mache', lace, etc. to pretty up a layout. I chose to use some paper doilies. I used a full one in the upper left hand corner. Then I used another to make my own 'lace.' I used my Fiskars Lace Apron punch for the edges of the brown patterned paper. I also did a lot of stitching on this one. The tag and all patterned paper is from K&Co. The lettering are thickers. The butterflies are also from K&Co. They were on a sheet of patterned paper and I cut them out for my own embellishment. I used the Home Accents cart to cut my flourish. I also included some brown dotted sheer ribbon and brown ric rac. Here is the layout:

My title for this layout was inspired from a song by Rascal Flatts. Then I listed things on the tag that my husband and I do each day. It reads:
*that we don't tell each other 'I Love You!!!!'
*that you let me know how important I am to you!
*that you don't make me laugh!
*that you don't kiss me and hold me while I fall to sleep!
*that I don't remind myself that I am hopelessly in love with you!
I love you sweetie, A

I made my own 'lace' by cutting a lace doily into eighth's and layering them.

To show the dimension:

Thanks for stoppin' by! Yall take care!

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'

Hey everyone! I hope you are having a great day! I am having one of those days today. It seems all I do is going wrong. Ugh! Don't ya just hate those days? Anyways, I have not been up to too much scrappiness these past few days. I think that all day of croppin' wore me out! LOL. But I did sit down yesterday and do some recipe cards for a 'Crockpot' swap I am in on Just Scrappin'. I made 10 and I decided to do them all different this time. I used all Amy Butler papers. Love me some Amy Butler!!! These are really simple, but it gets another thing checked off the list. I hope you will like them. These pix came out a little dark...sorry about that.

Thanks for droppin' in today. I think I may try to scrap a layout or something today, but we will see. Take care!

Through My Window

Hey everyone! This week at The Cuttlebug Spot we have a 'window' challenge. You are to create a card/project with a window or frame on it. I chose to create this house shaped card. My Mom gave me the house shaped white card blank. I then used My Little Shoebox 'Home Sweet Home' papers to decorate it. For my roof, I used the Martha Stewart Tiny Heart Border punch and embossed with the Swiss Dots folder. I used D'Vine Swirl on my house. I also added some bling and some Stickles. I cut the windows and doors out using the Christmas Solutions Cricut cartridge. Here it is:

I hope yall will join us for this fun challenge.

http://thecuttlebugspot.blogspot.com/

Hope you have a wonderful week and thanks for droppin' in today!

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!

YALL I AM SO EXCITED I HAVE TO TYPE IN ALL CAPS! ROFL! I JUST FOUND OUT I MADE THE DESIGN TEAM AT TREASURED SCRAPBOOKING!!!!!! I AM SO EXCITED! IF YALL COULD SEE ME RIGHT NOW, YOU WOULD BUST OUT LAUGHING. I AM HOME ALONE....BRANDON HAD TO GO TO JERSEY....AND I AM RUNNING AROUND JUMPING UP AND SCREAMING!!!!! I AM SO VERY THANKFUL AND CAN'T WAIT TO GET STARTED!!!!!!! I JUST HAD TO SHARE WITH MY FRIENDS!

SO DO COME ON OVER AND JOIN ALL THE FUN! WE'D LOVE TO HAVE YOU!!! BE SURE TO INTRO YOURSELF AND TELL THEM AYMEE SENT YA!

http://treasuredscrapbooking.com/forum/

THANKS FOR STOPPIN' BY!! HOPE ALL OF YOU HAVE A FABULOUS WEEK!!!!

There Was A Whole Lot Of Croppin' Goin' On!!!

Hey yall! How are you doing on this beautiful Mother's Day? Good I hope!!! I would like to wish my mother, Carol, a very Happy Mother's Day! I love you SO much Mom....more than you will ever know!!!! You are the BEST mother and friend in this world!! I am so sorry I can't be there with you today, but know you are ALWAYS in my thoughts! Big hugs!!!!! LLB~BFF

Well, I went to a crop yesterday with my PA gf's. We had a BLAST! As always, it was just soooo much fun! We all met up at Katie's house about 9:30'ish and scrapped until after midnight! It was just the best day! I got 7 layouts done, but first, I thought I'd share some pix with yall.

This is my gf Kathy, or Quake as we call her. I finally have recruited one of my girls to a sewer...LOL. Her mom will be so proud!

She did a fantastic job....truly, a natural.

This is Katie's son and he is the cutest little boy ever! He just grins at everything and is such a doll!!!!

This is Katie's little girl, Lauren. She is just so sweet and loves to sit with us. She is so well behaved and just too cute!

This is Jamie huntin' her up some ribbon. She made some of the cutest cards yesterday using the Wild Card cart.

Jamie again...isn't she just beautiful!!??!!! She has the prettiest, long red hair. I just love it!

This is Angela...such a sweet lady! She has 2 sons and all of her layouts of them are just precious. She is also a wonderful cook. She always brings the best dishes! I love this pic of her....her smile is beautiful!

Here's Angela croppin' it up...

Here's Quake scrappin'. She did some beautiful pages of her and her family yesterday. She has 2 twin boys and one girl. So like Angela, she always scraps one page for each of her children so they all will have the same LO's in their albums. So she scraps in three's, Angela in two's. I just love this idea. That way all of your children can have the same.

Quake snapped this one of me croppin'....

There is a preview of my day. I should of took a pic of the food...it was divine! We all just always have the best time!!! So, now yall will know my gf's up here in PA. They are all such a blessing!


Now, on to the layouts I got done.

"In The Swing of Things"

For this layout, I used Shirley's May Sketch on Treasured Scrapbooking. I just fell in love with the sketch the minute I saw it. These pix are of Carter and a recent trip with Aunt Mamie and Uncle Brandon to City Lake Park. He loves to swing on the monkey bars. I used Accent Essentials for the scallop shape and Stretch Your Imagination for the flowers. I also incorporated some stitching, buttons, and glitter alpha stickers.

"She Don't Know She's Beautiful"

This is my personal fave of the day. It is a layout of the most beautiful woman I know, my Mom. I just love this pic of her!!!! I borrowed this title from my gf Cristal. She did the cutest LO of our girl LJ and I had to use the title for my Mom's page. I included some Cosmo Cricket chipboard, ribbon, stitching, and used my new Fiskars 'Effervescence' border punch.

"Soul Mates"

This LO is of my parents on their cruise this past summer. I used Accent Essentials for the flourish. This is probably my least fave of the day. I don't know, it just needs something. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd love to hear 'em. LOL! I doubled up on some paper pleats. I also added some velvet trim and felt Thickers.

"Mohawk"

Every time I see this picture, I start laughing! Carter got himself a little mohawk for sitting still during a haircut. I used Accent Essentials for the {} shape and the scalloped circle I journaled on. I also incorporated a Jenni Bowlin calender card, Thickers, K&Co. embellishment, ribbon, stitching, my new Fiskars 'Lace Apron' punch, and my Stampin' Up punch.

If you would like to read the journaling, click on the pic below and it will make it larger.

"Where The Party At?"

I had fun with this layout. This is my Mom during our recent scrappy retreat in the mountains. I incorporated some alpha stickers, ribbon, felt ribbon, a Memory Makers journaling page, and K&Co. embellishment.

"Chin Up"

This layout is of Carter learning how to do a pull up. He is so funny!!! I used some Thickers for my title. I also incorporated a Jenni Bowlin bingo card, Cosmo Cricket Chipboard, a clear owl embellishment, ribbon, and used my Martha Stewart Lace Border punch. I also did some stitching around the paper I tore. These papers are by Jenni Bowlin and the K&Co. Amy Butler line. Love me some Amy Butler!!!

"Precious Moments"

One of the greatest blessings I have ever been given is to have friends like these. These are two of my good friends, Karen and Cristal. They are so special to me and I love them very much! This pic was taken during our recent scrappy retreat. I used Memory Makers Tiny Alpha's for my title. I also used some ribbon, buttons, stitching, Prima flowers, brads, and a journaling tag.

I hope you can see the stitching.

Well, there ya go! Whoo! That has to be like the longest post in blog history! LOL. But I did have a wonderful day! I hope you had a great Saturday too! As always, thanks for stopping by! Take care! Hugs!